EP1493212B1 - Atomic clock based on an opto-electronic oscillator - Google Patents
Atomic clock based on an opto-electronic oscillator Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP1493212B1 EP1493212B1 EP03721605A EP03721605A EP1493212B1 EP 1493212 B1 EP1493212 B1 EP 1493212B1 EP 03721605 A EP03721605 A EP 03721605A EP 03721605 A EP03721605 A EP 03721605A EP 1493212 B1 EP1493212 B1 EP 1493212B1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- optical
- signal
- atomic
- frequency
- electrical
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Lifetime
Links
- 230000005693 optoelectronics Effects 0.000 title claims abstract description 49
- 230000003287 optical effect Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 344
- 230000010355 oscillation Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 28
- 230000007704 transition Effects 0.000 claims description 42
- 230000005540 biological transmission Effects 0.000 claims description 14
- 230000004044 response Effects 0.000 claims description 14
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 claims description 13
- 239000004065 semiconductor Substances 0.000 claims description 13
- 230000003595 spectral effect Effects 0.000 claims description 13
- 239000000758 substrate Substances 0.000 claims description 13
- 230000008878 coupling Effects 0.000 claims description 11
- 238000010168 coupling process Methods 0.000 claims description 11
- 238000005859 coupling reaction Methods 0.000 claims description 11
- 238000010521 absorption reaction Methods 0.000 claims description 10
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 claims description 10
- 230000001427 coherent effect Effects 0.000 claims description 9
- 230000008859 change Effects 0.000 claims description 7
- 239000000835 fiber Substances 0.000 claims description 6
- 238000012545 processing Methods 0.000 claims description 4
- 230000005684 electric field Effects 0.000 claims description 3
- 239000000382 optic material Substances 0.000 claims description 3
- 239000011159 matrix material Substances 0.000 claims description 2
- 230000008569 process Effects 0.000 claims description 2
- 230000007246 mechanism Effects 0.000 abstract description 6
- 239000012071 phase Substances 0.000 description 28
- 230000005283 ground state Effects 0.000 description 18
- 230000005281 excited state Effects 0.000 description 13
- 238000013461 design Methods 0.000 description 9
- 238000013459 approach Methods 0.000 description 8
- 230000008901 benefit Effects 0.000 description 4
- 238000001514 detection method Methods 0.000 description 4
- 230000006641 stabilisation Effects 0.000 description 4
- 238000011105 stabilization Methods 0.000 description 4
- 238000001069 Raman spectroscopy Methods 0.000 description 3
- 230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 description 3
- 238000004146 energy storage Methods 0.000 description 3
- 230000010354 integration Effects 0.000 description 3
- 230000003134 recirculating effect Effects 0.000 description 3
- 238000000926 separation method Methods 0.000 description 3
- 230000000087 stabilizing effect Effects 0.000 description 3
- 230000003321 amplification Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000006243 chemical reaction Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000002347 injection Methods 0.000 description 2
- 239000007924 injection Substances 0.000 description 2
- 238000003199 nucleic acid amplification method Methods 0.000 description 2
- 239000012808 vapor phase Substances 0.000 description 2
- 239000003513 alkali Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910052792 caesium Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- TVFDJXOCXUVLDH-UHFFFAOYSA-N caesium atom Chemical compound [Cs] TVFDJXOCXUVLDH-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 230000010267 cellular communication Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000004891 communication Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000001934 delay Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000004069 differentiation Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000001914 filtration Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000036039 immunity Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000003993 interaction Effects 0.000 description 1
- 150000002500 ions Chemical class 0.000 description 1
- GQYHUHYESMUTHG-UHFFFAOYSA-N lithium niobate Chemical compound [Li+].[O-][Nb](=O)=O GQYHUHYESMUTHG-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 230000007774 longterm Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000004005 microsphere Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000012544 monitoring process Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000000615 nonconductor Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000013307 optical fiber Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000003252 repetitive effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 229910052701 rubidium Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- IGLNJRXAVVLDKE-UHFFFAOYSA-N rubidium atom Chemical compound [Rb] IGLNJRXAVVLDKE-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 230000008054 signal transmission Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000002459 sustained effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000012546 transfer Methods 0.000 description 1
Images
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G04—HOROLOGY
- G04F—TIME-INTERVAL MEASURING
- G04F5/00—Apparatus for producing preselected time intervals for use as timing standards
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G04—HOROLOGY
- G04F—TIME-INTERVAL MEASURING
- G04F5/00—Apparatus for producing preselected time intervals for use as timing standards
- G04F5/14—Apparatus for producing preselected time intervals for use as timing standards using atomic clocks
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G04—HOROLOGY
- G04G—ELECTRONIC TIME-PIECES
- G04G7/00—Synchronisation
Abstract
Description
- This application claims the benefit of
U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/371,055 filed on April 9, 2002 - The systems and techniques described herein were made in the performance of work under a NASA contract, and are subject to the provisions of USA Public Law 96-517 (35 USC 202) in which the Contractor has elected to retain title.
- This application relates to opto-electronic oscillators and their applications.
- An oscillating electrical signal may be used to carry information in either digital or analog form. The information can be imbedded in the electrical signal by a proper modulation, such as the amplitude modulation, the phase modulation, and other modulation techniques. The information in the electrical signal may be created in various ways, e.g., by artificially modulating the electrical carrier, or by exposing the electrical carrier to a medium which interacts with the carrier. Such signals may be transmitted via space or conductive cables or wires.
- It is well known that an optical wave may also be used as a carrier to carry information in either digital or analog form by optical modulation. Such optical modulation may be achieved by, e.g., using a suitable optical modulator, to modulate either or both of the phase and amplitude of the optical carrier wave. Signal transmission and processing in optical domain may have advantages over the electrical counterpart in certain aspects such as immunity to electromagnetic interference, high signal bandwidth per carrier, and easy parallel transmission by optical wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) techniques .
- Certain devices and systems may be designed to have electrical-optical "hybrid" configurations where both optical and electrical signals are used to explore their respective performance advantages, conveniences, or practical features. Notably, opto-electronic oscillators ("CEOs') are formed by using both electronic and optical components to generate oscillating signals in a range of frequencies, e.g., from the microwave spectral ranges, to the radio-frequency ("RF") spectral range. See, e.g.,
U.S. Patent Nos. 5,723,856 ,5,777,778 ,5,929,430 , and5,917,179 for some examples of OEOs. - Such an OEO topically includes an electrically controllable optical modulator and at least one active opto-electronic feedback loop that comprises an optical part and an electrical part interconnected by on optical-to-electrical conversion element such as a photodetector. The opto-electronic feedback loop receives the modulated optical output from the modulator and converted it into an electrical signal to control the modulator. The loop produces a desired delay and feeds the electrical signal in phase to the modulator to generate and sustain both optical modulation and electrical oscillation when the total loop gain of the active opto-electronic roop and any other additional feedback loops exceeds the total loss. The generated oscillating signals can be tunable in frequency and have narrow spectral linewidths and low phase noise in comparison with the signals produced by other RF and microwaves oscillators. OEOs can be particularly advantageous over other oscillators in the high RF spectral rangers, e.g., frequency bands on the order of GHz and tens of GHz.
WO 97/05712 - Techniques and devices of this application are in part based on the recognition that the long-term stability and accuracy of the oscillating frequency of an OEO may be desirable in various applications. Accordingly, this application discloses, among other features, mechanisms for stabilizing the oscillating frequency of an OEO with respect to or at a reliable frequency reference to provide a highly stable signal. In addition, the absolute value of the oscillating frequency of the OEO can be determined with high accuracy or precision. The reliable frequency reference may be, for example, a reference frequency defined by two energy levels in an atom. Thus, such an OEO can be coupled to and stabilized to the atomic reference frequency to operate as an atomic clock.
- In one exemplary implementation, a device according to this application may include an opto-electronic oscillator and an atomic reference module that are coupled to each other. The opto-electronic oscillator may include an opto-electronic loop with an optical section and an electrical section and operable to generate an oscillation at an oscillation frequency. The atomic reference module may be coupled to receive and interact with at least a portion of an optical signal in the optical section to produce a feedback signal. The opto-electronic oscillator is operable to respond to this feedback signal to stabilize the oscillation frequency with respect to an atomic frequency reference in the atomic reference module.
- In another exemplary implementation, a device according to this application may include an optical modulator, an opto-electronic loop, a frequency reference module, and a feedback module. The optical modulator is operable to modulate an optical carrier signal at a modulation frequency in response to an electrical modulation signal to produce modulation bands in the optical carrier signal. The opto-electronic loop has an optical section coupled to receive a first portion of the optical carrier signal, and an electrical section to produce the electrical modulation signal according to the first portion of the optical carrier signal. The opto-electronic loop causes a delay in the electrical modulation signal to provide a positive feedback to the optical modulator. The frequency reference module has an atomic transition in resonance with a selected modulation band among the modulation bands and is coupled to receive a second portion of the optical carrier signal. The second portion interacts with the atomic transition to produce an optical monitor signal. The feedback module is operable to receive the optical monitor signal and to control the optical modulator in response to information in the optical monitor signal to lock the modulation frequency relative to the atomic transition.
- This application also discloses various methods for operating or controlling opto-electronic oscillators. In one method, for example, a coherent laser beam is modulated at a modulation frequency to produce a modulated optical beam. Next, a portion of the modulated optical beam is transmitted through an optical delay element to cause a delay. The portion of the optical signal from the optical delay element is converted into an electrical signal. This electrical signal is then used to control the modulation of the coherent laser beam to cause an oscillation at the modulation frequency. A deviation of the modulation frequency from an atomic frequency reference is then obtained. The modulation of the coherent laser beam is then adjusted to reduce the deviation.
- These and other implementations of the devices and techniques of this application are now described in greater details as follows.
-
FIG. 1 shows one implementation of an opto-electronic oscillator atomic clock based on a phase lock loop to lock the OEO to an atomic frequency reference. -
FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate exemplary spectral components in modulated optical signals. -
FIG. 3 shows one exemplary 3-level atomic energy structure for the atoms in the atomic clock to provide the atomic frequency reference. -
FIG. 4 shows one example of a self-oscillating OEO-based atomic clock. -
FIGS. 5 and6 show two OEO-based atomic clocks with a laser stabilization module based on the same atomic frequency reference. -
FIGS. 7 ,8A ,8B ,9 ,10, 11 ,12 ,13A, and 13B show various whispering-gallery-mode micro cavities and designs for compact OEO-based atomic clocks. -
FIG. 1 shows one implementation of adevice 100 that has an OEO and a control mechanism to lock the oscillation frequency of the OEO to an atomic transition. In the illustrated example, the OEO receives anoptical beam 102 at a carrier frequency (νo) produced by alaser 101 and uses an electrically controllableoptical modulator 110 to modulate thelaser beam 102 at a modulation frequency (νmod). Theoptical modulator 110 may operate in response to anelectrical modulation signal 128 applied to itsport 112 and may also be configured to receive aDC bias signal 152 at itsport 111. The bias can shift the operating point of themodulator 110 to change the modulation frequency. The operation of themodulator 110 produces a modulatedoptical signal 114 which includes multiple spectral components caused by the modulation. - The
optical modulator 110 may be an amplitude modulator which periodically changes the amplitude of the optical signal, or a phase modulator which periodically changes the phase of the optical signal. Referring toFIG. 2A , the amplitude modulation produces an upper modulation sideband (+1) and a lower modulation sideband (-1), both shifted from the carrier frequency (νo) by the same amount, i.e., the modulation frequency (νmod). In the phase modulation, however, more then two sidebands are present in the modulatedsignal 114.FIG. 2B illustrates the spectral components of a phase-modulatedsignal 114. Two immediate adjacent bands are separated by the modulation frequency (νmod). - Referring back to
FIG. 1 , the OEO may include at least one active opto-electronic feedback loop that comprises an optical part and an electrical part interconnected by an optical-to-electrical conversion element such as aphotodetector 124. Anoptical splitter 115 may be used to split the modulatedsignal 114 into asignal 117 for the opto-electronic feedback loop and asignal 116 for a frequency reference module that provides the atomic transitions for stabilizing the OEO. Thesplitter 115 may also be used to produce an optical output of thedevice 100. - The optical section of the opto-electronic feedback loop is used to produce a signal delay in the
modulation signal 128 by having anoptical delay element 120, such as a fiber loop or an optical resonator. The total delay in the opto-electronic feedback loop determines the mode spacing in the oscillation modes in the OEO. In addition, a long delay reduces the linewidth of the OEO modes and the phase noise. Hence, it is desirable to achieve a long optical delay. When an optical resonator is used as thedelay element 120, the high Q factor of the optical resonator provides a long energy storage time to produce an oscillation of a narrow linewidth and low phase noise. Different from other optical delay elements, the resonator as a delay element requires mode matching conditions. First, the laser carrier frequency of thelaser 101 should be within the transmission peak of the resonator to provide sufficient gain. In this application, the resonator may be actively controlled to adjust its length to maintain this condition since thelaser 101 is stabilized. Second, the mode spacing of the optical resonator is equal to one mode spacing, or a multiplicity of the mode spacing, of the opto-electronic feedback loop. In addition, the oscillating frequency of the OEO is equal to one mode spacing or a multiple of the mode spacing of the optical resonator. - The optical resonator for the
delay element 120 may be implemented in a number of configurations, including, e.g., a Fabry-Perot resonator, a fiber ring resonator, a micro resonator that includes a portion of the equator of a sphere to whispering-gallery modes (such as a disk or a ring cavity) and a non-spherical cavity that is axially symmetric. The non-spherical resonator may be formed by distorting a sphere to a non-spherical geometry to purposely achieve a large eccentricity, such as an oblate spheroidal microcavity or microtorus formed by revolving an ellipse around a symmetric axis along the short elliptical axis. The optical coupling for a whisper gallery mode cavity can be achieved by evanescent coupling. A tapered fiber tip, a micro prism, an coupler formed from a photonic bandgap material, or other suitable optical couplers may be used. - The electrical section of the opto-electronic loop may include an
amplifier 125, and anelectrical bandpass filter 126 to select a single OEO mode to oscillate. A signal coupler may be added in the electrical section to produce an electrical output. The output of thephotodetector 124 is processed by this electrical section to produce the desiredmodulation signal 128 to theoptical modulator 110. In particular, the loop produces a desired delay and feeds the electrical signal in phase to the modulator to generate and sustain both optical modulation and electrical oscillation when the total loop gain of the active opto-electronic loop exceeds the total loss. Two or more feedback opto-electronic loops with different loop delays may be implemented to provide additional tuning capability and flexibility in the OEO. - Notably, the
device 100 implements a frequency reference module to form a phase lock loop to dynamically stabilize the OEO oscillation frequency to an atomic transition. Similar to the opto-electronic feedback loop, this module also operates based on a feedback control. However, different from the opto-electronic feedback loop, this feedback loop is a phase lock loop and is designed to avoid any oscillation and operates to correct the frequency drift or jitter of the oscillating OEO mode with respect to an atomic transition. - The frequency reference module in the
device 100 includes anatomic cell 130 containing atoms with desired atomic transitions. Theoptical signal 116 is sent into thecell 130 and theoptical transmission 132 is used as an optical monitor signal for monitoring the frequency change in the OEO loop. Thecell 130 operates in part as an atomic optical filter because it is a narrow bandpass filter to transmit optical energy in resonance with an atomic transition. Thecell 130 also operates as a frequency reference because theoptical monitor signal 132 includes information about the deviation of the OEO oscillating frequency from a desired oscillating frequency based on a frequency corresponding to a fixed separation between two energy levels in the atoms. Under the configuration inFIG. 1 where theatomic cell 130 is outside the OEO loop, this information in theoptical monitor signal 132 needs to be retrieved by a differentiation method as described below. - In addition to the
cell 130, the frequency reference module further includes a differential detector that compares the optical signal in the optical section of the OEO loop and theoptical monitor signal 132 to obtain the frequency deviation in the OEO oscillating frequency. This differential detector includes twooptical detectors electrical element 150 that subtracts the two detector outputs. Theelement 150 may be, e.g., a signal mixer or a differential amplifier. Anoptical splitter 123 may be placed in the optical section of the OEO loop to split a portion of the modulated optical signal into thedetector 141. The difference of the signals from thedetectors differential signal 152 which is used to control the DC bias of theoptical modulator 110. A phase lock loop circuit may be implemented to perform the actual control over the DC bias in response to thesignal 152. - As an alternative implementation for the differential detector, the
optical splitter 123 and theoptical detector 141 may be eliminated. Instead, a portion of the output from thedetector 124 may be split off and amplified if needed to feed into theelement 150 as one of the two input signals for generating thesignal 152. An example of such implementation is shown inFIG. 5 . - The atoms in the
atomic cell 130 are selected to have three energy levels capable of producing a quantum interference effect, "electromagnetically induced transparency."FIG. 3 illustrates one example of the threeenergy levels energy levels energy level 330 is a higher excited state level common to and shared by bothlevels Optical transitions ground states excited state 330, respectively. No optical transition, however, is permitted between the twoground states lower states excited state 330 to the ground states 310 and 320. The difference in frequency between the twooptical transitions FIG. 3 , this desired modulation frequency is thegap 312 between the twolower states - In this atom in
FIG. 3 , an electron in theground state 310 can absorb a photon in resonance with thetransition 331 to become excited from theground state 310 to theexcited state 330. Similarly, an electron in theground state 320 can be excited to theexcited state 330 by absorbing a photon in resonance with thetransition 332. Once excited to theexcited state 330, an electron can decay to either of the ground states 310 and 320 by emitting a photon. If only one optical field is present and is in resonance with either of the two optical transitions, e.g., thetransition 331, all electrons will be eventually transferred from oneground state 310 in theoptical transition 331 to theother ground state 320 not in theoptical transition 331. Hence, theatomic cell 130 will become transparent to the beam in resonance with thetransition 331. - If a second optical field is simultaneously applied to the
transition 332 and is coherent with the first optical field, the twoground states optical transitions ground states excited state 330. Under this condition, there are no permissible dipole moments between the superposition state and theexcited state 330 and hence no electron in either of the twoground states excited state 330. As a result, theatomic cell 130 becomes transparent to both optical fields that are respectively in resonance with thetransitions - This electromagnetically induced transparency has a very narrow transmission spectral peak with respect to the frequency detuning of either of the two simultaneously-applied optical fields. The narrow transmission peak is present in the
optical monitor signal 132 that transmits through thecell 130. In one implementation, the above differential detection with the differential detector uses the optical signal in the opto-electronic loop as a reference to determine the direction and the amount of the deviation of the optical frequencies of the two optical fields. Assuming thelaser 101 is stabilized at a proper carrier frequency (νo) to cause the double resonance condition for the electromagnetically induced transparency, any deviation from the resonance condition should be caused by the shift or fluctuation in the OEO loop. To correct this deviation indicated by the differential detector, the DC bias of theoptical modulator 110 is adjusted accordingly to correct the deviation in real time. This feedback operation locks the oscillating frequency of the OEO at thefrequency separation 312 between the twooptical transitions ground states FIG. 3 . In this context, thedevice 100 operates as an atomic clock. - Referring to
FIG. 2A , if theoptical modulator 110 modulated the amplitude, thelaser 101 may be tuned to a resonance with either thetransition 331 or thetransition 332 while the lower or the upper sideband is in resonance with the other transition. Although any two immediate adjacent bands in the modulatedoptical signal 114 may be used, it is usually practical to use the carrier band and another strong sideband. - Atoms with other atomic energy structures may also be used for the
atomic cell 130. The 3-level energy structure inFIG. 3 where two lower states share one common excited state is referred to as the λ configuration. Alternatively, atoms with two excited states sharing a common ground state in a V configuration may also be used. Furthermore, a consecutive three energy levels in a ladder configuration may also be used, where the middle energy level is the excited state in a first optical transition with the lowest energy level as the corresponding lower state and is also the lower state for a second optical transition with the highest level as the corresponding excited state. Atoms in thecell 130 may be in the vapor phase, or may be embedded in a suitable solid-state material which provides a matrix to physically hold the atoms so that a sufficiently narrow atomic transition can be obtained. In a representative implementation for using the vapor-phase atoniccell 130, the atoms are sealed in thecell 130 in vacuum under an elevated temperature to obtain a sufficient atomic density in the cell. -
FIG. 4 shows another implementation where theatomic cell 130 is inserted in the optical section of the loop in anOEO 400 as a narrow-band optical filter. The operation principle of this design is similar to that of thedevice 100 inFIG. 1 except that the differential detection and its feedback loop are eliminated. Theatomic cell 130 in the OEO loop now operates to directly filter the optical signal to transmit only the optical signal that satisfies the double-resonance Raman condition. Any other optical signals are rejected by theatomic cell 130. Hence, assuming the laser carrier frequency is fixed, the OEO loop can only provide a sufficient loop gain to amplify and sustain the signal at an oscillating frequency equal to the frequency difference of the two optical transitions for the electromagnetically induced transparency. - Therefore, in
FIG. 4 , the frequency locking to the atomic frequency reference is built into the OEO loop without external differential detection implemented inFIG. 1 . In this context, the OEO inFIG. 4 is a self-oscillating atomic clock. This design greatly simplifies the device structure and can achieve the same stabilized operation as thedevice 100 inFIG. 1 if the oscillating frequency of the OEO fluctuates or drifts within a small range in which the optical transmission of thecell 130 is sufficient to maintain the overall loop gain to be greater than the loop loss. When the frequency variation of the OEO is greater than the spectral range in the transmission of theatomic cell 130 that can sustain the oscillation, the OEO needs to be adjusted to re-establish the oscillation and the automatic frequency locking to the atomic reference. In comparison, thedevice 100 inFIG. 1 can automatically correct such a large variation in frequency by virtue of having the phase lock loop based on the differential detection that is external to the OEO loop. - In the above devices, it is assumed that the
laser 101 is stabilized at a desired laser carrier frequency (νo). When the frequency of thelaser 101 changes, the double-resonance Raman condition for the electromagnetically induced transparency in the OEOs may be destroyed and the locking to the atomic frequency reference in the above OEOs may also fail accordingly. Another aspect of this application is to provide a dynamic laser stabilization mechanism that uses the same atomic frequency reference to lock thelaser 101 which is tunable in its laser frequency by adjusting one or more laser parameters.FIGS. 5 and6 illustrate two implementations for OEOs based on the designs inFIGS. 1 and4 , respectively. - The OEO in
FIG. 5 uses an electrical signal splitter at the output of thephotodetector 142 to produce asignal 510. An opticalfrequency lock unit 520 receives and processes thissignal 510 to produce an error signal that represents the deviation of the laser carrier frequency from a desired carrier frequency. Afeedback control signal 522 is generated based on the error signal by theunit 520 to adjust the laser frequency of thelaser 101. The adjustment to thelaser 101 may be made in various ways to tune its laser frequency depending on the specific laser configuration. For a simple diode laser, for example, the driving current, the diode temperature, or both may be adjusted in response to thecontrol signal 522 to tune the laser frequency. - The laser locking mechanism in
FIG. 6 is similar except that thefeedback signal 510 is split from the output of thedetector 124 in the OEO loop. It is also contemplated that other suitable laser stabilization methods may also be used to control thelaser 101. For example, a laser control may use a frequency reference independent from the atomic frequency reference provided by the atoms in theatomic cell 130. - The
optical modulator 110 in OEOs inFIGS. 1 and4-6 may be implemented in various configurations. The widely-used Mach-Zehnder modulators using electro-optical materials can certainly be used as themodulator 110. Such conventional modulators generally are bulky and are not power efficient. The following sections of this application describe some examples of compact or miniature OEOs that use micro cavities that support whispering gallery modes ("WGMs") to provide energy-efficient and compact atomic clocks suitable for various applications, including cellular communication systems, spacecraft communications and navigation, and GPS receivers. -
FIG. 7 shows oneexemplary OEO 700 that uses amicro WGM cavity 710 formed of an electro-optical material as both an intensity optical modulator and an electrical filter in the OEO loop. In addition, theWGM cavity 710 is further used as an optical delay element in the OEO loop due to its large quality factor Q so that a simpleoptical loop 120 may be used to provide an optical feedback without a separate optical delay element. As illustrated, asubstrate 701 is provided to support themicro cavity 710 and other components of theOEO 700. Thelaser 101 may be either integrated on thesubstrate 701 or separated from the rest of the OEO as illustrated. The geometry of thecavity 710 is designed to support one or more WG modes and may be a micro sphere, a cavity formed of a partial sphere that includes the equator such as a disk and a ring, or a non-spherical microcavity. - An
electrical control 712 is formed on thecavity 710 to apply the control electrical field in the region where the WG modes are present to modulate the index of the electro-optical material to modulate the amplitude of the light. Theelectrical control 712 generally may include two or more electrodes on thecavity 710. In one implementation, such electrodes form an RF or microwave resonator to apply the RF or microwave signal to co-propagate along with the desired optical WG mode to modulate the light. Such an RF or microwave resonator by itself also operates as an electrical signal filter to filter the electrical signal in the OEO loop. Hence, there would be no need for aseparate filter 126 as shown inFIG. 1 . ADC bias electrode 711 may also be formed on thecavity 710 to control the DC bias of the modulator. - The
OEO 700 includes anoptical coupler 720 to evanescently couple input light from thelaser 101 into thecavity 710 and also to extract light out of the WG mode from the cavity to produce the optical output, the optical feedback to the OEO loop and the optical monitor signal to theatomic cell 130. A micro prism is shown as an example of such an evanescent coupler. Certainly, two evanescent couplers may be used: one for the input and another for the output. Anoptical splitter 115 is used to split the modulated optical signal output by thecavity 710 to both theoptical loop 120 such as a fiber loop and theatomic cell 130. In addition thesplitter 115 may also produce an optical output for the OEO. Similar to the some other OEOs described above, aphotodetector 124 is connected to theoptical delay 120 to convert theoptical signal 117 into an electrical detector signal and sends the detector signal, after amplification if needed, to theelectrical control 712 for controlling the optical modulation in thecavity 710. Thephotodetector 142 converts theoptical monitor signal 132 transmitted through thecell 130 into thesignal 152 which is used to control the DC bias of the optical modulation. A laser stabilization mechanism, either based on or independent from theatomic cell 130 may be included to stabilize thelaser 101. - The above optical modulation in the
WG cavity 710 is based on the concept that the optical resonance condition of an optical resonator can be controlled to modulate light in the resonator. An optical wave in a supported resonator mode circulates in the resonator. When the recirculating optical wave has a phase delay of N2π (N=1, 2, 3, ...), the optical resonator operates in resonance and optical energy accumulates inside the resonator with a minimum loss. If the optical energy is coupled out of the resonator under this resonance condition, the output of the resonator is maximized. However, when the recirculating wave in the resonator has a phase delay other then N2π, the amount of optical energy accumulated in the resonator is reduced and so is the coupled output. If the phase delay in the optical cavity can be modulated, a modulation on the output from an optical resonator can be achieved. The modulation on the phase delay of recirculating wave in the cavity is equivalent to a shift between a phase delay value for a resonance condition and another different value for a non-resonance condition. In implementation, the initial value of phase delay (i.e. detuning from resonance) may be biased at a value where a change in the phase delay produces the maximum change in the output energy. -
FIG. 8A shows a general design of this type of optical modulators based on aWGM cavity 810 formed from any electro-optic material such as lithium niobate. The phase delay of the optical feedback (i.e. positions of optical cavity resonances) is changed by changing the refractive index of the resonator via electro-optic modulation. An external electrical signal is used to modulate the optical phase in the resonator to shift the whispering-gallery mode condition and hence the output coupling. Such an optical modulator can operate at a low operating voltage, in the millivolt range, and may be used to achieve a high modulation speed at tens of gigahertz or higher, all in a compact package. As illustrated, twooptical couplers resonator 810 as optical input coupler and output coupler, respectively. An input optical beam from thelaser 101 is coupled into theresonator 810 as the internally-circulatingoptical wave 812 in the whispering gallery modes by thecoupler 821. In evanescent coupling, the evanescent fields at the surface of the sphere decays exponentially outside the sphere. Once coupled into the resonator, the light undergoes total internal reflections at the surface of the cavity. The effective optical path length is increased by such circulation. Theoutput coupler 822 couples a portion of the circulating optical energy in theresonator 810, also through the evanescent coupling, to produce anoutput beam 114. Alternatively, theoptical coupler 821 may also be used to produce theoutput 114 as shown inFIG. 7 . - An
electrical coupler 830 is placed near theresonator 810 to couple an electrical wave which causes a change in the dielectric constant due to the electro-optic effect. Anelectronic driving circuit 840 is implemented to supply the electrical wave to theelectrical coupler 830. Acontrol signal 128 from thedetector 124 in the OEO loop can be fed into thecircuit 840 to modulate the electrical wave. This modulation is then transferred to a modulation in theoptical output 114 of theresonator 810. - The
resonator 810 with a high Q factor has a number of advantages. For example, the repetitive circulation of the optical signal in the WG mode increases the effective interaction length for the electro-optic modulation. Theresonator 810 can also effectuate an increase in the energy storage time for either the optical energy or the electrical energy and hence reduce the spectral linewidth and the phase noise. Also, the mode matching conditions make the optical modulator operate as a signal filter so that only certain input optical beam can be coupled through theresonator 810 to produce a modulated output by rejecting other signals that fail the mode matching conditions. -
FIG. 8B shows another light modulator in amodulator housing 880 based on the design inFIG. 8A .Optical fibers optical beams Microlenses prisms gallery mode resonator 810. Instead of using theresonator 810 alone to support the electrical modes, a RFmicrostrip line electrode 860 is combined with theresonator 810 to form a RF resonator to support the electrical modes. Aninput RF coupler 861 formed from a microstrip line is implemented to input the electrical energy into the RF resonator. A circuit board 870 is used to support the microstrip lines and other RF circuit elements for the modulator. This modulator also includes asecond RF coupler 862, which may be formed from a microstrip line on the board 870, to produce a RF output. This signal can be used as a monitor for the operation of the modulator or as an electrical output for further processing or driving other components. -
FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplaryintegrated OEO 900 with all its components fabricated on asemiconductor substrate 901. Amicro WGM cavity 940 is used as an optical delay element equivalent to thedelay 120 inFIG. 1 . Theintegrated OEO 900 also includes asemiconductor laser 101, a semiconductor electro-absorption modulator 920, afirst waveguide 930, asecond waveguide 950, and aphotodetector 960. In this integrated design, thedetector 960 is equivalent to thedetector 124 inFIG. 1 . Anelectrical link 970, e.g., a conductive path, is also formed on thesubstrate 901 to electrically couple thedetector 960 to themodulator 920. Themicro resonator 940 is used as a high-Q energy storage element to achieve low phase noise and micro size. ARF filter 126 may be disposed in thelink 970 to ensure a single-mode oscillation. In absence of such a filter, a frequency filtering effect can be achieved by narrow band impedance matching between the modulator 920 and thedetector 960. - Both
waveguides coupling regions micro resonator 940. Thefirst waveguide 930 has one end coupled to themodulator 920 to receive the modulated optical output and another end to provide an optical output of theOEO 900. Thesecond waveguide 950 couples the optical energy from themicro resonator 940 and delivers the energy to thedetector 960. - The complete closed opto-electronic loop is formed by the
modulator 920, thefirst waveguide 930, themicro resonator 940, thesecond waveguide 950, thedetector 960, and theelectrical link 970. The phase delay in the closed loop is set so that the feedback signal from thedetector 960 to themodulator 920 is positive. In addition, the total open loop gain exceeds the total losses to sustain an opto-electronic oscillation. The proper mode matching conditions between theresonator 940 and the total loop are also required. Since the laser carrier frequency should be at the transmission peak of theresonator 940 to sustain the oscillation, it may be desirable to dynamically adjust the cavity length of themicro resonator 940 to maintain this condition. This may be achieved by using a fraction of the optical output from theresonator 940 in a cavity control circuit to detect the deviation from this condition and to cause a mechanical squeeze on theresonator 940, e.g., through a piezo-electric transducer, to reduce the deviation. - In general, an
electrical signal amplifier 125 may be connected between thedetector 960 and themodulator 920. However, such a high-power element can be undesirable in a highly integrated on-chip design such as theOEO 900. For example, the high power of the amplifier may cause problems due to its high thermal dissipation. Also, the amplifier may introduce noise or distortion, and may even interfere with operations of other electronic components on the chip. - One distinctive feature of the
OEO 900 is to eliminate such a signal amplifier in thelink 970 by matching the impedance between the electro-absorption modulator 920 and thephotodetector 960 at a high impedance value. The desired matched impedance is a value so that the photovoltage transmitted to themodulator 920, without amplification, is sufficiently high to properly drive themodulator 920. In certain systems, for example, this matched impedance may be about 1 kilo ohm or several kilo ohms. Theelectrical link 970 can be used, without a signal amplifier, to directly connect thephotodetector 960 and themodulator 920 to preserve their high impedance. Such a directelectrical link 970 can ensure the maximum energy transfer between the twodevices -
FIG. 10 shows another integrated coupledOEO 1000 suitable for implementing compact atomic clocks. This OEO is formed on asemiconductor substrate 1001 and includes twowaveguides micro WGM cavity 1002. Thewaveguides micro cavity 1002 by evanescent coupling. The other end of thewaveguide 1010 includes anelectrical insulator layer 1011, an electro-absorption modulator section 1012, and ahigh reflector 1014. Thishigh reflector 1014 operates to induce pulse colliding in themodulator 1012 and thus enhance the mode-locking capability. The other end of thewaveguide 1020 is apolished surface 1024 and is spaced from aphotodetector 1022 by agap 1021. Thesurface 1024 acts as a partial mirror to reflect a portion of light back into thewaveguide 1020 and to transmit the remaining portion to thephotodetector 1022 to produce an optical output and an electrical signal. An electrical link 1030 is coupled between themodulator 1012 andphotodetector 1022 to produce an electrical output and to feed the signal and to feed the electrical signal to control themodulator 1012. - Notably, two coupled feedback loops are formed in the
device 1000. An optical loop is in a Fabry-Perot resonator configuration, which is formed between thehigh reflector 1014 and thesurface 1024 of thewaveguide 1020 through themodulator 1012, thewaveguide 1010, themicro cavity 1002, and thewaveguide 1020. Thegap 1021, thedetector 1022, and the electrical link 1030 forms another opto-electronic loop that is coupled to the above optical loop. - In this implementation, the above optical loop forms a laser to replace the
separate laser 101 in other OEOs described in this application. Thewaveguides modulator 1012 in response to the electrical signal from thephotodetector 1022. The twowaveguides substrate 1001 so that thephotodetector 1022 and themodulator 1012 are close to each other. This arrangement facilitates wire bonding or other connection means between thephotodetector 1022 and themodulator 1012. - The
photodetector 1022 may be structurally identical to the electro-absorption modulator 1012 but is specially biased to operate as a photodetector. Hence, thephotodetector 1022 and themodulator 1012 have a similar impedance, e.g., on the order of a few kilo ohms, and thus are essentially impedance matched. Taking typical values of 2 volts modulator switching voltage, 1 kilo ohm for the impedance of themodulator 1012 andphotodetector 1022, the optical power required for the sustained RF oscillation is estimated at about 1.28 mW when the detector responsivity is 0.5 A/W. Such an optical power is easily attainable in semiconductor lasers. Therefore, under the impedance matching condition, a RF amplifier may be eliminated in the electrical link 1030 as in theintegrated OEO 900 inFIG. 9 . - In the above compact WGM cavity devices, the
atomic cell 130 may be inserted into the optical path to form a compact self-oscillating atomic clock as shown inFIGS. 4 and6 . As an example,FIG. 11 further shows an exemplary integrated self-oscillatingatomic clock 1100 based on the design inFIG. 6 . The WGM cavity modulator inFIG. 7 is used to perform both the optical modulation and the optical delay in the OEO loop. Thelaser beam 102 from thelaser 101 is collimated by alens 110 before being coupled into theWGM cavity 710. Thecircuit 1120 includes both the electrical section of the OEO loop and the laserfrequency control circuit 520. - Alternatively, the
atomic cell 130 may be used in a separate phase-lock loop for locking the OEO to the atomic frequency reference as illustrated inFIGS. 1 and5 . - The above examples for compact and integrated OEO-based atomic clocks illustrate different approaches to the device integration. One approach, for example, uses compact components to reduce the overall physical size of the OEO, such as using miniaturized devices for the
optical delay element 120 or theoptical modulator 110. The OEO devices inFIGS. 7 ,8A ,8B ,9 ,10, and 11 represent examples in this approach, where either a WGM micro resonator or an integrated semiconductor electro-absorption modulator is used to replace conventional bulky modulators. The WGM micro resonator is also used as to cause the desired optical delay in the OEO loop to avoid bulky optical delay elements. - In another approach, the
optical modulator 110 and theoptical delay element 120 are integrated into a single unit within the OEO to miniaturize the whole device.FIGS. 7 ,8A ,8B , and11 represent examples in this approach. InFIG. 8A , the modulatedoptical output 114 may be directly fed into theoptical detector 124 in the OEO loop without going through another optical delay element due to the high Q value of theresonator 810.FIG. 12 further shows an OEO-based atomic clock under this approach. Notably, a specialoptical modulator 1210 is used to provide both optical modulation and the optical delay. The OEO loop is formed by themodulator 1210 and thedetector 124. Thismodulator 1210 may be implemented by, e.g., the WGM resonator modulator inFIGS. 7 ,8A ,8B , and11 . An optional laser frequency feedback loop for stabilizing thelaser 101 is also shown inFIG. 12 . Thesignal mixer 150 is shown to receive one input from thedetector 142 and another input from the phase-lock loop coupled between themodulator 1210 and themixer 150. As shown in other examples, the second input to themixer 150 may be taken from the output of thedetector 124 in the OEO loop. In addition, the output from the optical frequency lock circuit 420 may be combined with thesignal 152 to control themodulator 1210. -
FIG. 10 also suggests yet another approach to the integration of the OEO-based atomic clocks where the laser source that powers the OEO and the optical modulator may be integrated as a single unit. In theOEO 1000 inFigure 10 , the electro-absorption modulator 1012 is within the laser resonator formed by thereflectors -
FIGS. 13A and 13B show two exemplary OEO-based atomic clocks where a single directly modulatedlaser 1310 is used to both produce the laser carrier and provide the modulation of the laser carrier.OEO 1301 inFIG. 13A has an external frequency lock loop with an atomic cell.OEO 1302 inFIG. 13B is a self-oscillating OEO. Thelaser 1310 in bothdevices optical delay element 120 may be implemented with a WGM microcavity. InFIG. 13A , two separate feedback loops are used: one is the OEO loop with theoptical delay element 120 and another is the phase-lock loop for locking the modulation frequency of the modulatedlaser output 114 to a desired atomic frequency reference in theatomic cell 130. The phase-lock control and the OEOloop feedback signal 128 may be combined to control the modulation of thelaser 101. In addition, another phase-look loop may be used to stabilize the laser carrier frequency of thelaser 1310. InFIG. 13B , theatomic cell 130 is in the optical section of the OEO loop so that thefeedback signal 128 in the OEO loop allows the OEO to be locked to the atomic frequency reference provided by theatomic cell 130 if the carrier frequency of thelaser 1310 is stabilized. The additional phase-lock loop based on asignal 510 split from the output of thedetector 124 may be used to stabilize the laser carrier frequency of thelaser 1310 by, e.g., controlling the cavity length of the laser. - Certainly, other integration configurations based on combinations or variations of the above approaches may be possible. In summary, only a few implementations of the OEO-based atomic clocks are disclosed. However, it is understood that variations and enhancements may be made.
Claims (37)
- A device (100), comprising:an opto-electronic oscillator having an opto-electrouic loop with an optical section and an electrical section, said oscillator operable to generate an oscillation at an oscillation frequency; andan atomic reference module (130) including an atomic frequency reference and coupled to receive and interact with at least a portion of an optical signal (114) in said optical section to produce a feedback signal (128, 152), wherein said oscillator is operable to respond to said feedback signal to stabilize said oscillation frequency with respect to said atomic frequency reference.
- The device (100) as in claim 1, wherein said oscillator includes an optical modulator (110) to receive a laser carrier (102) at a carrier frequency (νo) and to modulate said laser carrier at a modulation frequency (νmod) to produce a modulated optical signals (114) in response to an electrical output (128, 152) of said electrical section, wherein said optical section receives at least a portion of said modulated optical signal (114).
- The device (100) as in claim 2, wherein said optical section includes an optical delay element (120) to produce a delay in said opto-electronic loop.
- The device (100) as in claim 3, wherein said optical delay element (120) includes an optical resonator.
- The device (100) as in claim 4, wherein said optical resonator is a whispering gallery mode resonator (810).
- The device (100) as in claim 2, wherein said atomic reference module includes an atomic cell (130) located in said optical section to filter optical energy.
- The device (100) as in claim 2, wherein said atomic reference module comprises a feedback loop having an atomic cell (130) to provide said atomic frequency reference and to transmit said portion of said optical signal (114), an optical detector (142) to convert optical transmission of said atomic cell into a monitor signal, and a feedback unit to produce said feedback signal (128, 152) by processing said monitor signal and to use said feedback to control said optical modulator (110).
- The device (100) as in claim 2, wherein said optical modulator (110) includes an optical resonator (810) within which said laser carrier (102) is modulated, said optical resonator operable to produce an optical delay in said opto-electronic loop.
- The device (100) as in claim 8, wherein said optical resonator is a whispering gallery mode resonator (710, 810).
- The device (100) us in claim 9, wherein said whispering gallery mode resonator (810) is formed of an electro-optical material.
- The device (100) as in claim 2, wherein said optical modulator (110) is a phase modulator.
- The device (100) as in claim 2, wherein said optical modulator (110) is an amplitude modulator.
- The device (1301, 1302) as in claim 1, wherein said oscillator includes a laser (1310) coupled to receive an electrical signal (128) from said electrical section and operable to modulate a laser gain at a modulation frequency in response to said electrical signal to produce a modulated optical signal (114) having modulation bands in a laser carrier at a laser frequency, wherein said optical section receives at least a portion of said modulated optical signal.
- The device (1301, 1302) as in claim 13, wherein said atomic reference module comprises a feedback loop having an atomic cell (130) to provide said atomic frequency reference and to transmit said portion of said optical signal (114), an optical detector (124, 142) to convert optical transmission of said atomic cell into a monitor signal, and a feedback unit to produce said feedback signal (128, 152) by processing said monitor signal, said feedback unit operable to control said laser with said feedback signal to stabilize said oscillation frequency.
- The device (100) as in claim 1, wherein said atomic reference module comprises an atomic cell (130) having atoms with an energy structure comprising three different energy levels (310, 320, 330) that allow for two different optical transitions (331, 332) that share a common energy level, wherein one modulation band and another immediate adjacent band in said modulated optical signal are in resonance with said two different optical transitions, respectively.
- The device (100) as in claim 15, wherein said atomic cell (130) includes a solid-state material to form a matrix which hold said atoms.
- A device (100) as in claim 1, wherein said opto-electrohic oscillator comprises:an optical modulator. (110) to modulate an optical carrier signal (102) at a modulation frequency (νmod) in response to an electrical modulation signal (128) toproduce a plurality of modulation bands in said optical carrier signal,wherein said optical section of the opto-electronic loop is coupled to receive a first portion (117) of said optical carrier signal (114) from said optical modulator (110), and the electrical section of the opto-electronic loop is arranged to produce said electrical modulation signal (128) according to said first portion of said optical carrier signal (114), said opto-electronic loop causing a delay in said electrical modulation signal (128) to provide a positive feedback to said optical modulator (110),
wherein said atomic reference module (130) comprises a frequency reference module having an atomic transition (331) in resonance with a selected modulation band among said modulation bands and coupled to receive a second portion (116) of said optical carrier signal (114), said second portion interacting with said atomic transition to generate an optical monitor signal (132), and
wherein the device further comprises a feedback module to receive said optical monitor signal (132) and to control said optical modulator (110) in response to information in said optical monitor signal to lock said modulation frequency (νmod) relative to an atomic reference frequency associated with said atomic transition. - The device as in claim 17, wherein said optical section includes an optical resonator (120).
- The device as in claim 18, wherein said optical resonator has a structure to support at least one whispering gallery mode.
- The device as in claim 17, wherein said optical section includes a fiber segment.
- The device as in claim 17, wherein said opto-electronic loop includes an optical detector (142) coupled between said optical and said electrical sections to convert said second portion (116) into an electrical signal as an input to said electrical section.
- The device as in claim 17, wherein said frequency reference module includes a second, different atomic transition (332) that shares a common energy level (330) with said atomic transition, and wherein said second atomic transition (332) is in resonance with a spectral component in said optical carrier signal (102).
- The device as in claim 22, wherein said spectral component is separated from said selected modulation band in frequency by said modulation frequency.
- The device as in claim 17, wherein said feedback module comprises: an optical splitter (123) to couple a portion of optical energy in said optical section as a reference optical signal; and a differential detector (150) to convert said reference optical signal (117) and said optical monitor signal (132) into two detector signals and to produce a differential signal (152) which controls said optical modulator to lock said modulation frequency.
- The device as in claim 24, wherein said feedback module operates to use said differential signal (152) to control a DC bias in said optical modulator.
- The device as in claim 1,
wherein said opto-electronic oscillator comprises an optical input to receive an optical signal (102) at an optical carrier frequency and to output a modulated optical signal (114) having a carrier band at said optical carrier frequency and a plurality of modulation bands where two neighboring modulation bands (320, 330) are separated in frequency by said oscillation frequency (νo),
wherein said atomic reference module comprises an atomic filter (130) to receive and filter at least a portion of said modulated optical signal to produce an optical monitor signal (132), said atomic filter having atoms with an energy structure comprising three different energy levels (310, 320, 330) that allow for two different optical transitions (331, 332) that share a common energy level (330), wherein one modulation band and another immediate, adjacent band in said modulated optical signal are in resonance with said two different optical transitions, respectively; and
whereon the device further comprises a feedback control coupled to receive said optical monitor signal and to control said opto-electronic oscillator to lock a frequency of each modulation band relative to said atomic frequency reference in said three different energy levels according to information in said optical monitor signal indicative of a variation in said frequency relative to said atomic frequency reference. - The device as in claim 26, wherein said opto-electronic oscillator comprises:an optical resonator (810) to support whispering gallery modes and formed of an electro-optic material;an electrical control (830) coupled to said optical resonator to apply a control electrical field to modulate a property of said electro-optic material;an optical coupler (821, 822) positioned to couple said optical signal into said optical resonator in one whispering gallery mode and couple energy in said one whispering gallery mode out to produce said modulated optical signal (114);an optical loop (120) to receive said modulated optical signal; anda photodetector (124) coupled to said optical loop to convert optical energy in said optical loop into a detector signal, said photodetector coupled to send said detector.signal to said electrical control.
- The device as in claim 27, wherein said feedback control comprises an optical detector (142) to convert said optical monitor signal (132) into a bias control signal (152) and to apply said bias control signal to control a DC bias in said control electrical field at said optical resonator (110).
- The device as in claim 26, wherein said opto-electronic oscillator comprises:a semiconductor electro-absorption modulator (920) to modulate said optical signal in response to an electrical control signal;a first optical waveguide (930) to receive said modulated optical signal from said semiconductor electro-absorption modulator;a whispering gallery mode resonator (940) optically coupled to receive at least part of said modulated optical signal;a second optical waveguide (950) optically coupled to receive an output optical signal from said whispering gallery mode resonator;a photodetector (960) to convert said output optical signal into an electrical signal; andan electrical unit connected between said photodetector and said semiconductor electro-absorption modulators to apply a portion of said electrical signal (970) as said electrical control signal.
- A method, comprising:modulating a coherent laser beam (102) at a modulation frequency to produce a modulated optical beam (114);transmitting a portion of the modulated optical beam through an optical delay element (120) to cause a delay;converting the portion from the optical delay element into an electrical signal (128);using the electrical signal to control modulation of the coherent laser beam to cause an oscillation at the modulation frequency;obtaining a deviation (152) of the modulation frequency from an atomic frequency reference (130); andadjusting the modulation of the coherent laser beam to reduce the deviation.
- The method as in claim 30, further comprising: using a tunable laser (1310) to produce the coherent laser beam; and adjusting the frequency of the tunable laser in response to the deviation to stabilize the tunable laser.
- The device (100) as in claim 1, wherein said opto-electronic oscillator comprises:an optical modulator (110) to modulate an optical carrier signal (102) at a modulation frequency in response to an electrical modulation signal (129) to produce a plurality of modulation bands in said optical carrier signal, wherein two neighboring modulation bands are separated in frequency by said oscillation frequency; andwherein said optical section of said opto-electronic loop is coupled to receive a first portion (117) of said optical carrier signal (114) from said optical modulator, and the electrical section of the opto-electronic loop is arranged to produce said electrical modulation signal (128) from said portion of said optical carrier signal, said opto-electronic loop causing a delay in said electrical modulation signal to provide a positive feedback to said optical modulator (110); and
wherein said atomic reference module comprises an atomic cell (130) having atoms with two atomic transitions (331, 332) sharing a common energy level (330) and in resonance with two adjacent bands in said modulated optical signal (114) to exhibit electromagnetically induced transparency, said atomic cell (130) positioned in said optical section to transmit said first portion of said optical carrier signal to said electrical section. - The device as in claim 32, further comprising:a laser (1310) to produce said optical carrier signal (102) at a carrier frequency; anda laser frequency control coupled to receive and process a portion of said electrical modulation signal indicative of a variation of said carrier frequency and operable to control said laser to reduce said variation.
- The device as in claim 32, wherein said optical modulator includes a whispering gallery mode resonator (810) formed of an electro-optical material and having electrodes to receive said positive feedback.
- The device as in claim 32, wherein said optical modulator includes a semiconductor electro-absorption modulator (920) and said optical section of said opto-electronic loop includes a whispering gallery mode resonator.
- The device (100) as in claim 1, wherein said opto-electronic oscillator comprises:an optical resonator (810) configured to support whispering gallery modes and formed of an electro-optical material;an optical coupler (821, 822) near said optical resonator to evanescently couple an input optical signal into a whispering gallery mode in said optical resonator and to couple energy in said whispering gallery mode out of said optical resonator to produce an optical output signal (114);electrodes formed on said optical resonator to apply an electrical control signal (128) to said optical resonator to change a refractive index of said electro-optical material to modulate said optical output signal at said modulation frequency (νmod);wherein said atomic reference module comprises an atomic cell (130) having atoms that interact with said modulated optical output signal to exhibit electromagnetically induced transparency, said atomic cell located to receive at least a portion of said modulated optical output signal to produce an optical transmission; and
wherein the device (100) further comprises:a photodetector to convert said optical transmission into a detector signal; anda feedback control to produce said electrical control signal according to said detector signal to stabilize said oscillation frequency relative to an atomic frequency reference in said atoms. - The device (100) as in claim 1, wherein said opto-electronic oscillator comprises:a substrate (1001);a semiconductor optical modulator (1012) formed on said substrate to modulate light in response to an electrical modulation signal;a first waveguide (1010) on said substrate coupled to receive a modulated optical signal from said optical modulator;an optical resonator (1002) to support whispering gallery modes and optically coupled to said first waveguide via evanescent coupling;a second waveguide (1020) on said substrate having a first end optically coupled to said optical resonator via evanescent coupling and a second end;a photodetector (1022) on said substrate to receive and convert an optical output from said second waveguide into an electrical signal;an electrical link (1030) coupled between said photodetector (1022) and said optical modulator (1012) to produce said electrical modulation signal from said electrical signal;a reflector (1014) located on one side of said semiconductor optical modulator to form an optical cavity with said second end of said second waveguide (1020) to include said semiconductor optical modulator (1012), said optical resonator (1002), said first and said second waveguides (1010; 1020) in an optical path within said optical cavity, wherein said first and second waveguides are doped to produce an optical gain for a laser oscillation in said optical cavity;wherein said atomic reference module comprises an atomic cell (130) on said substrate having atoms that interact with light in said optical cavity to exhibit electromagnetically induced transparency, said atomic cell located to receive at least a portion of said light to produce an optical transmission; and
wherein the device further comprises:a second photodetector (124) on said substrate to convert said optical transmission into a detector signal; anda feedback control to control said optical modulator according to said detector signal to stabilize said oscillation frequency in said light relative to said atomic frequency reference in said atoms.
Applications Claiming Priority (3)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US37105502P | 2002-04-09 | 2002-04-09 | |
US371055P | 2002-04-09 | ||
PCT/US2003/010983 WO2003088472A2 (en) | 2002-04-09 | 2003-04-09 | Atomic clock based on an opto-electronic oscillator |
Publications (3)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP1493212A2 EP1493212A2 (en) | 2005-01-05 |
EP1493212A4 EP1493212A4 (en) | 2005-07-13 |
EP1493212B1 true EP1493212B1 (en) | 2009-10-14 |
Family
ID=29250628
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP03721605A Expired - Lifetime EP1493212B1 (en) | 2002-04-09 | 2003-04-09 | Atomic clock based on an opto-electronic oscillator |
Country Status (8)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (1) | US6762869B2 (en) |
EP (1) | EP1493212B1 (en) |
JP (1) | JP4163630B2 (en) |
AT (1) | ATE445922T1 (en) |
AU (1) | AU2003224911A1 (en) |
CA (1) | CA2478347C (en) |
DE (1) | DE60329666D1 (en) |
WO (1) | WO2003088472A2 (en) |
Cited By (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
RU2548394C1 (en) * | 2013-12-30 | 2015-04-20 | Общество с ограниченной ответственностью "Техноскан-Лаб" (ООО "Техноскан-Лаб") | Raman fibre pulsed laser |
Families Citing this family (102)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US6839363B2 (en) * | 2001-03-16 | 2005-01-04 | Calmar Optcom, Inc. | Digital control of actively mode-locked lasers |
US7283707B1 (en) | 2001-07-25 | 2007-10-16 | Oewaves, Inc. | Evanescently coupling light between waveguides and whispering-gallery mode optical resonators |
US20040208643A1 (en) * | 2002-05-13 | 2004-10-21 | Ar Card | Coherent optical receivers |
US6940878B2 (en) * | 2002-05-14 | 2005-09-06 | Lambda Crossing Ltd. | Tunable laser using microring resonator |
US6987914B2 (en) * | 2002-05-17 | 2006-01-17 | California Institute Of Technology | Optical filter having coupled whispering-gallery-mode resonators |
US6943934B1 (en) * | 2002-05-28 | 2005-09-13 | California Institute Of Technology | Nonlinear optical whispering gallery mode resonators |
US7050212B2 (en) * | 2002-11-22 | 2006-05-23 | California Institute Of Technology | Active mode-locked lasers and other photonic devices using electro-optic whispering gallery mode resonators |
US7092591B2 (en) * | 2003-02-03 | 2006-08-15 | California Institute Of Technology | Tunable optical filters having electro-optic whispering-gallery-mode resonators |
US7369290B1 (en) * | 2003-03-19 | 2008-05-06 | Photonic Systems, Inc. | Modulator bias control |
US7065276B2 (en) * | 2003-04-03 | 2006-06-20 | Lambda Crossing Ltd. | Integrated optical filters utilizing resonators |
US7133180B2 (en) * | 2003-06-03 | 2006-11-07 | Oewaves, Inc. | Resonant impedance matching in microwave and RF device |
WO2005008296A2 (en) * | 2003-07-03 | 2005-01-27 | Oewaves, Inc. | Optical coupling for whispering-gallery-mode resonators via waveguide gratings |
US7248763B1 (en) | 2003-07-03 | 2007-07-24 | Oewaves, Inc. | Optical resonators with reduced OH-content |
WO2005017607A2 (en) * | 2003-08-04 | 2005-02-24 | California Institute Of Technology | Opto-electronic feedback for stabilizing oscillators |
US7187870B2 (en) | 2003-10-15 | 2007-03-06 | Oewaves, Inc. | Tunable balanced opto-electronic filters and applications in opto-electronic oscillators |
US7389053B1 (en) | 2003-10-15 | 2008-06-17 | Oewaves, Inc. | Tunable filtering of RF or microwave signals based on optical filtering in Mach-Zehnder configuration |
US7184451B2 (en) * | 2003-10-15 | 2007-02-27 | Oewaves, Inc. | Continuously tunable coupled opto-electronic oscillators having balanced opto-electronic filters |
US7587144B2 (en) * | 2004-01-12 | 2009-09-08 | Oewaves, Inc. | Tunable radio frequency and microwave photonic filters |
US7218662B1 (en) | 2004-02-12 | 2007-05-15 | Oewaves, Inc. | Coupled opto-electronic oscillators with low noise |
WO2005092050A2 (en) * | 2004-03-22 | 2005-10-06 | Oewaves, Inc. | Optical waveguide coupler for whispering-gallery-mode resonators |
FR2868558B1 (en) * | 2004-03-30 | 2006-06-30 | Centre Nat Rech Scient Cnrse | METHOD FOR GENERATING AN ATOMIC CLOCK SIGNAL WITH COHERENT POPULATION TRAPPING AND CORRESPONDING ATOMIC CLOCK |
US7061335B2 (en) | 2004-04-15 | 2006-06-13 | Oewaves, Inc. | Processing of signals with regenerative opto-electronic circuits |
US7362927B1 (en) | 2004-06-01 | 2008-04-22 | Oewaves, Inc. | Tunable RF or microwave photonic filters using temperature-balanced whispering gallery mode optical resonators |
US7260279B2 (en) * | 2004-06-09 | 2007-08-21 | Oewaves, Inc. | Integrated opto-electronic oscillators |
US7480425B2 (en) * | 2004-06-09 | 2009-01-20 | Oewaves, Inc. | Integrated opto-electronic oscillators |
US7630417B1 (en) * | 2004-06-24 | 2009-12-08 | California Institute Of Technology | Crystal whispering gallery mode optical resonators |
US7440651B1 (en) | 2004-11-17 | 2008-10-21 | California Institute Of Technology | Single mode whispering-gallery-mode resonator |
US7634201B2 (en) * | 2006-09-05 | 2009-12-15 | Oewaves, Inc. | Wideband receiver based on photonics technology |
US8124927B2 (en) | 2007-05-29 | 2012-02-28 | California Institute Of Technology | Detecting light in whispering-gallery-mode resonators |
US7965745B2 (en) * | 2007-06-13 | 2011-06-21 | Oewaves, Inc. | RF and microwave receivers based on electro-optic optical whispering gallery mode resonators |
US7929589B1 (en) | 2007-06-13 | 2011-04-19 | Oewaves, Inc. | Diffractive grating coupled whispering gallery mode resonators |
JP5514102B2 (en) * | 2007-06-13 | 2014-06-04 | オーイーウェイブス,インコーポレーテッド | Tunable laser synchronized to whispering gallery mode resonator |
US8164816B1 (en) | 2007-08-31 | 2012-04-24 | California Institute Of Technology | Stabilizing optical resonators |
US8210044B1 (en) | 2007-10-12 | 2012-07-03 | California Institute Of Technology | Covert laser remote sensing and vibrometry |
US9360626B2 (en) | 2007-11-13 | 2016-06-07 | Anatoliy Savchenkov | Fiber-based multi-resonator optical filters |
US8155914B2 (en) | 2007-11-13 | 2012-04-10 | Oewaves, Inc. | Measuring phase noise in radio frequency, microwave or millimeter signals based on photonic delay |
WO2009064934A2 (en) * | 2007-11-13 | 2009-05-22 | Oewaves, Inc. | Cross modulation-based opto-electronic oscillator with tunable electro-optic optical whispering gallery mode resonator |
US8155913B2 (en) * | 2007-11-13 | 2012-04-10 | Oewaves, Inc. | Photonic-based cross-correlation homodyne detection with low phase noise |
JP2009129955A (en) * | 2007-11-20 | 2009-06-11 | Epson Toyocom Corp | Optical system, and atomic oscillator |
US9360844B2 (en) | 2008-02-07 | 2016-06-07 | Dimension 4 Ltd. | Apparatus, system, and method of frequency generation using an atomic resonator |
JP5568019B2 (en) | 2008-02-07 | 2014-08-06 | ガン,ラハブ | Devices, systems, and methods for frequency generation using atomic resonators |
JP5290737B2 (en) * | 2008-02-08 | 2013-09-18 | 古河電気工業株式会社 | Optical-microwave oscillator and pulse generator |
US8111722B1 (en) | 2008-03-03 | 2012-02-07 | Oewaves, Inc. | Low-noise RF oscillation and optical comb generation based on nonlinear optical resonator |
EP2255421A4 (en) * | 2008-03-11 | 2013-03-27 | Oewaves Inc | Optical locking based on optical resonators with high quality factors |
US8089684B1 (en) | 2008-03-14 | 2012-01-03 | Oewaves, Inc. | Photonic RF and microwave phase shifters |
US20090256638A1 (en) * | 2008-03-28 | 2009-10-15 | Michael Rosenbluh | Atomic frequency standard based on enhanced modulation efficiency semiconductor lasers |
WO2009137202A2 (en) | 2008-04-03 | 2009-11-12 | California Institute Of Technology | Optical sensing based on overlapping optical modes in optical resonator sensors and interferometric sensors |
US8094359B1 (en) | 2008-05-15 | 2012-01-10 | Oewaves, Inc. | Electro-optic whispering-gallery-mode resonator devices |
US8102597B1 (en) | 2008-05-15 | 2012-01-24 | Oewaves, Inc. | Structures and fabrication of whispering-gallery-mode resonators |
EP2288968B1 (en) * | 2008-06-05 | 2013-04-10 | Philips Intellectual Property & Standards GmbH | Atomic frequency acquisition device based on self-mixing interference |
US7970025B2 (en) * | 2008-07-03 | 2011-06-28 | The United States Of America As Represented By The Administrator Of The National Aeronautics And Space Administration | System and method for tuning adjusting the central frequency of a laser while maintaining frequency stabilization to an external reference |
US8452139B1 (en) | 2008-07-25 | 2013-05-28 | Oewaves, Inc. | Wide-band RF photonic receivers and other devices using two optical modes of different quality factors |
US8331008B1 (en) | 2008-10-14 | 2012-12-11 | Oewaves, Inc. | Photonic microwave and RF receivers based on electro-optic whispering-gallery-mode resonators |
JP2010102045A (en) * | 2008-10-22 | 2010-05-06 | Furukawa Electric Co Ltd:The | Mode synchronization semiconductor laser |
US8159736B2 (en) * | 2008-11-13 | 2012-04-17 | Oewaves, Inc. | Tunable single sideband modulators based on electro-optic optical whispering gallery mode resonators and their applications |
JP5381400B2 (en) * | 2009-02-06 | 2014-01-08 | セイコーエプソン株式会社 | Quantum interferometers, atomic oscillators, and magnetic sensors |
US8237514B2 (en) | 2009-02-06 | 2012-08-07 | Seiko Epson Corporation | Quantum interference device, atomic oscillator, and magnetic sensor |
US8761603B1 (en) | 2009-02-25 | 2014-06-24 | Oewaves, Inc. | Dynamically reconfigurable sensor arrays |
US8498539B1 (en) | 2009-04-21 | 2013-07-30 | Oewaves, Inc. | Dielectric photonic receivers and concentrators for radio frequency and microwave applications |
US8417076B2 (en) | 2009-06-22 | 2013-04-09 | Oewaves, Inc. | Tunable photonic microwave or radio frequency receivers based on electro-optic optical whispering gallery mode resonators |
JP5589166B2 (en) | 2009-11-12 | 2014-09-17 | セイコーエプソン株式会社 | Atomic oscillator |
US8331409B1 (en) | 2010-01-18 | 2012-12-11 | Oewaves, Inc. | Locking of a laser to an optical interferometer that is stabilized to a reference frequency |
US8514400B2 (en) | 2010-03-23 | 2013-08-20 | Oewaves, Inc. | Optical gyroscope sensors based on optical whispering gallery mode resonators |
JP5699467B2 (en) * | 2010-07-14 | 2015-04-08 | セイコーエプソン株式会社 | Optical module and atomic oscillator |
US8564869B1 (en) | 2010-07-15 | 2013-10-22 | Oewaves, Inc. | Voltage controlled tunable single sideband modulators and devices based on electro-optic optical whispering gallery mode resonators |
CN102377098B (en) | 2010-08-10 | 2015-09-23 | Oe电波公司 | Laser apparatus and the method for locked laser |
JP5910806B2 (en) * | 2011-03-14 | 2016-04-27 | セイコーエプソン株式会社 | Optical module and atomic oscillator for an atomic oscillator |
CN103703635B (en) | 2011-05-16 | 2017-07-25 | Oe电波公司 | Triple oscillator arrangements based on nonlinear optics resonator |
JP2012256663A (en) * | 2011-06-08 | 2012-12-27 | Nec Corp | Optical amplifier and optical amplification method |
US8804231B2 (en) | 2011-06-20 | 2014-08-12 | Oewaves, Inc. | Stabilizing RF oscillator based on optical resonator |
US8659814B2 (en) | 2011-06-23 | 2014-02-25 | Oewaves, Inc. | Parametric regenerative oscillators based on opto-electronic feedback and optical regeneration via nonlinear optical mixing in whispering gallery mode optical resonators |
US8831056B2 (en) | 2011-06-30 | 2014-09-09 | Oewaves, Inc. | Compact optical atomic clocks and applications based on parametric nonlinear optical mixing in whispering gallery mode optical resonators |
JP5908603B2 (en) | 2011-12-23 | 2016-04-26 | インテル コーポレイション | Apparatus, system and tablet computer apparatus for optomechanical gyroscope |
US9097790B2 (en) * | 2012-02-02 | 2015-08-04 | The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army | Method and apparatus for providing radio frequency photonic filtering |
CN102545042B (en) * | 2012-02-21 | 2013-04-03 | 山西大同大学 | Production method of optical microwave signal with tunable broadband frequency |
CN104272538B (en) | 2012-03-27 | 2017-03-01 | 光电波股份有限公司 | There is the tunable optical electrical oscillator of the optical resonance wave filter running on selected modulation sideband, |
US9077354B2 (en) | 2012-04-10 | 2015-07-07 | Honeywell International Inc. | Low power reduction of biases in a micro primary frequency standard |
US8907276B2 (en) | 2012-04-11 | 2014-12-09 | Honeywell International Inc. | Measuring the populations in each hyperfine ground state of alkali atoms in a vapor cell while limiting the contribution of the background vapor |
JP6124536B2 (en) * | 2012-08-30 | 2017-05-10 | 株式会社リコー | Atomic oscillator and CPT resonance excitation method |
KR101471716B1 (en) * | 2012-11-07 | 2014-12-11 | 홍익대학교 산학협력단 | Optoelectronic oscillator and method |
US9088369B2 (en) * | 2012-12-28 | 2015-07-21 | Synergy Microwave Corporation | Self injection locked phase locked looped optoelectronic oscillator |
JP6143325B2 (en) * | 2013-01-11 | 2017-06-07 | 大学共同利用機関法人情報・システム研究機構 | Ising model quantum computing device and Ising model quantum computing method |
US9094133B2 (en) | 2013-03-12 | 2015-07-28 | Synergy Microwave Corporation | Integrated production of self injection locked self phase loop locked optoelectronic oscillator |
SI24591A (en) * | 2013-12-24 | 2015-06-30 | Center Odliäśnosti Za Biosenzoriko, Instrumentacijo In Procesno Kontrolo | The process control and stabilization of the optoelectronic oscillator frequency |
CN103823356B (en) * | 2014-03-07 | 2016-04-20 | 中国科学院武汉物理与数学研究所 | Based on passive-type CPT atomic clock experimental provision and the method for PXI system |
JP2017514111A (en) * | 2014-03-19 | 2017-06-01 | オーイーウェーブス, インク.Oewaves, Inc. | Optical atomic clock |
EP3170052B1 (en) * | 2014-07-17 | 2023-04-26 | CSEM Centre Suisse D'electronique Et De Microtechnique SA | Atomic clock |
KR102016928B1 (en) * | 2014-10-31 | 2019-10-14 | 아이디 퀀티크 에스.에이. | Method and Apparatus for Synchronizing using Opto-electronic Oscillator |
EP3034463B1 (en) * | 2014-12-18 | 2019-03-27 | Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique (Cnrs) | Coherent spectroscopic methods with extended interrogation times and systems implementing such |
CN105577267B (en) * | 2014-12-30 | 2017-09-12 | 北京无线电计量测试研究所 | Optical fiber Frequency Transfer phase compensation device and method based on optical-electronic oscillator principle |
CN105467821B (en) * | 2015-12-01 | 2018-04-06 | 北京无线电计量测试研究所 | A kind of physical system of Atomic Clocks Based on Coherent Population Trapping |
US9885888B2 (en) * | 2016-02-08 | 2018-02-06 | International Business Machines Corporation | Integrated microwave-to-optical single-photon transducer with strain-induced electro-optic material |
CN106025786B (en) * | 2016-07-29 | 2019-01-25 | 北京邮电大学 | A kind of optical-electronic oscillator and its frequency-stabilizing method |
CN108225578B (en) * | 2017-12-25 | 2020-05-12 | 中国科学技术大学 | Dual-laser system suitable for cold atom interference precision measurement |
US10411807B1 (en) * | 2018-04-05 | 2019-09-10 | Nokia Solutions And Networks Oy | Optical transmitter having an array of surface-coupled electro-absorption modulators |
US10727948B2 (en) | 2018-04-05 | 2020-07-28 | Nokia Solutions And Networks Oy | Communication system employing surface-coupled optical devices |
US11300682B2 (en) * | 2018-10-18 | 2022-04-12 | Bae Systems Information And Electronic Systems Integration Inc. | Multi-static and bistatic coherent LIDAR with lasers locked to a reference |
US10998376B2 (en) | 2019-01-29 | 2021-05-04 | International Business Machines Corporation | Qubit-optical-CMOS integration using structured substrates |
US11804694B2 (en) | 2019-03-27 | 2023-10-31 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Laser device and method of transforming laser spectrum |
CN110989326B (en) * | 2019-12-26 | 2021-03-30 | 中国计量科学研究院 | Local high-precision time frequency real-time comprehensive device |
CN111834864A (en) * | 2020-07-07 | 2020-10-27 | 电子科技大学 | Phase modulation and optical filtering-based photoelectric oscillator |
CN112787204B (en) * | 2020-12-31 | 2022-03-01 | 武汉邮电科学研究院有限公司 | Photoelectric oscillator based on-chip integrated system and method for generating microwave signal |
Family Cites Families (13)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US5267072A (en) | 1991-05-20 | 1993-11-30 | The United States Of America As Represented By The Administrator Of The National Aeronautics And Space Administration | Dual frequency optical carrier technique for transmission of reference frequencies in dispersive media |
US5220292A (en) * | 1992-01-02 | 1993-06-15 | Raytheon Company | Microwave oscillator with noise degeneration feedback circuit |
AU6767396A (en) * | 1995-08-01 | 1997-02-26 | California Institute Of Technology | Novel opto-electronic oscillators |
US5723856A (en) * | 1995-08-01 | 1998-03-03 | California Institute Of Technology | Opto-electronic oscillator having a positive feedback with an open loop gain greater than one |
US5777778A (en) | 1996-01-23 | 1998-07-07 | California Institute Of Technology | Multi-Loop opto-electronic microwave oscillator with a wide tuning range |
US5929430A (en) | 1997-01-14 | 1999-07-27 | California Institute Of Technology | Coupled opto-electronic oscillator |
US5917179A (en) | 1997-05-12 | 1999-06-29 | California Institute Of Technology | Brillouin opto-electronic oscillators |
US6567436B1 (en) * | 1999-01-26 | 2003-05-20 | California Institute Of Technology | Opto-electronic oscillators having optical resonators |
US6389197B1 (en) | 1999-02-10 | 2002-05-14 | California Institute Of Technology | Coupling system to a microsphere cavity |
US6473218B1 (en) | 1999-06-11 | 2002-10-29 | California Institute Of Technology | Light modulation in whispering-gallery-mode resonators |
AU6061800A (en) * | 1999-07-01 | 2001-01-22 | Research And Development Institute, Inc. | Laser frequency stabilizer using transient spectral hole burning |
DE60122154D1 (en) * | 2000-06-09 | 2006-09-21 | California Inst Of Techn | ACCELERATING SENSITIVE OPTOELECTRONIC OSCILLATORS |
WO2002013337A1 (en) | 2000-08-08 | 2002-02-14 | California Institute Of Technology | Optical sensing based on whispering-gallery-mode microcavity |
-
2003
- 2003-04-09 DE DE60329666T patent/DE60329666D1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 2003-04-09 US US10/410,873 patent/US6762869B2/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 2003-04-09 WO PCT/US2003/010983 patent/WO2003088472A2/en active Application Filing
- 2003-04-09 AT AT03721605T patent/ATE445922T1/en not_active IP Right Cessation
- 2003-04-09 JP JP2003585274A patent/JP4163630B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 2003-04-09 CA CA002478347A patent/CA2478347C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 2003-04-09 EP EP03721605A patent/EP1493212B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 2003-04-09 AU AU2003224911A patent/AU2003224911A1/en not_active Abandoned
Cited By (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
RU2548394C1 (en) * | 2013-12-30 | 2015-04-20 | Общество с ограниченной ответственностью "Техноскан-Лаб" (ООО "Техноскан-Лаб") | Raman fibre pulsed laser |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
US20040109217A1 (en) | 2004-06-10 |
WO2003088472A3 (en) | 2004-04-15 |
EP1493212A4 (en) | 2005-07-13 |
EP1493212A2 (en) | 2005-01-05 |
CA2478347A1 (en) | 2003-10-23 |
ATE445922T1 (en) | 2009-10-15 |
AU2003224911A8 (en) | 2003-10-27 |
WO2003088472A2 (en) | 2003-10-23 |
DE60329666D1 (en) | 2009-11-26 |
JP2005522887A (en) | 2005-07-28 |
AU2003224911A1 (en) | 2003-10-27 |
US6762869B2 (en) | 2004-07-13 |
CA2478347C (en) | 2008-06-10 |
JP4163630B2 (en) | 2008-10-08 |
Similar Documents
Publication | Publication Date | Title |
---|---|---|
EP1493212B1 (en) | Atomic clock based on an opto-electronic oscillator | |
US6873631B2 (en) | Integrated opto-electronic oscillators having optical resonators | |
US7965745B2 (en) | RF and microwave receivers based on electro-optic optical whispering gallery mode resonators | |
US7173749B2 (en) | Opto-electronic feedback for stabilizing oscillators | |
US7187870B2 (en) | Tunable balanced opto-electronic filters and applications in opto-electronic oscillators | |
US6580532B1 (en) | Opto-electronic techniques for reducing phase noise in a carrier signal by carrier supression | |
US7050212B2 (en) | Active mode-locked lasers and other photonic devices using electro-optic whispering gallery mode resonators | |
US7061335B2 (en) | Processing of signals with regenerative opto-electronic circuits | |
US7260279B2 (en) | Integrated opto-electronic oscillators | |
US7460746B2 (en) | Tunable multi-loop opto-electronic oscillator with tunable RF or microwave filter based on optical filtering | |
US7184451B2 (en) | Continuously tunable coupled opto-electronic oscillators having balanced opto-electronic filters | |
US5777778A (en) | Multi-Loop opto-electronic microwave oscillator with a wide tuning range | |
WO2009064934A2 (en) | Cross modulation-based opto-electronic oscillator with tunable electro-optic optical whispering gallery mode resonator | |
CN112701555A (en) | Micro-integrated photoelectric oscillator based on optical microcavity | |
JPH09191147A (en) | Pulsed light source | |
WO2009051730A1 (en) | Rf and microwave receivers based on electro-optic optical whispering gallery mode resonators | |
Yao et al. | Opto-electronic oscillators having optical resonators | |
Wang et al. | Optoelectronic oscillator based on injection locking of Febry-Perot laser diode |
Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
PUAI | Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009012 |
|
17P | Request for examination filed |
Effective date: 20040924 |
|
AK | Designated contracting states |
Kind code of ref document: A2 Designated state(s): AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HU IE IT LI LU MC NL PT RO SE SI SK TR |
|
AX | Request for extension of the european patent |
Extension state: AL LT LV MK |
|
A4 | Supplementary search report drawn up and despatched |
Effective date: 20050531 |
|
RIC1 | Information provided on ipc code assigned before grant |
Ipc: 7H 01S 3/098 A Ipc: 7G 04F 5/14 B |
|
GRAP | Despatch of communication of intention to grant a patent |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: EPIDOSNIGR1 |
|
GRAS | Grant fee paid |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: EPIDOSNIGR3 |
|
GRAA | (expected) grant |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009210 |
|
AK | Designated contracting states |
Kind code of ref document: B1 Designated state(s): AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HU IE IT LI LU MC NL PT RO SE SI SK TR |
|
REG | Reference to a national code |
Ref country code: GB Ref legal event code: FG4D |
|
REG | Reference to a national code |
Ref country code: CH Ref legal event code: EP |
|
REG | Reference to a national code |
Ref country code: IE Ref legal event code: FG4D |
|
REF | Corresponds to: |
Ref document number: 60329666 Country of ref document: DE Date of ref document: 20091126 Kind code of ref document: P |
|
REG | Reference to a national code |
Ref country code: CH Ref legal event code: NV Representative=s name: KIRKER & CIE S.A. |
|
NLV1 | Nl: lapsed or annulled due to failure to fulfill the requirements of art. 29p and 29m of the patents act | ||
PG25 | Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: FI Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT Effective date: 20091014 Ref country code: ES Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT Effective date: 20100125 Ref country code: SE Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT Effective date: 20091014 Ref country code: PT Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT Effective date: 20100215 |
|
PG25 | Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: SI Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT Effective date: 20091014 |
|
PG25 | Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: BE Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT Effective date: 20091014 Ref country code: AT Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT Effective date: 20091014 |
|
PG25 | Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: BG Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT Effective date: 20100114 Ref country code: RO Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT Effective date: 20091014 Ref country code: DK Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT Effective date: 20091014 Ref country code: EE Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT Effective date: 20091014 |
|
PLBE | No opposition filed within time limit |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009261 |
|
STAA | Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent |
Free format text: STATUS: NO OPPOSITION FILED WITHIN TIME LIMIT |
|
PG25 | Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: SK Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT Effective date: 20091014 Ref country code: CZ Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT Effective date: 20091014 |
|
26N | No opposition filed |
Effective date: 20100715 |
|
PG25 | Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: GR Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT Effective date: 20100115 |
|
PG25 | Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: MC Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES Effective date: 20100430 |
|
GBPC | Gb: european patent ceased through non-payment of renewal fee |
Effective date: 20100409 |
|
PG25 | Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: IE Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES Effective date: 20100409 |
|
PG25 | Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: IT Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT Effective date: 20091014 Ref country code: GB Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES Effective date: 20100409 |
|
PG25 | Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: CY Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT Effective date: 20091014 |
|
PG25 | Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: NL Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT Effective date: 20091014 Ref country code: HU Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT Effective date: 20100415 Ref country code: LU Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES Effective date: 20100409 |
|
PG25 | Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: TR Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT Effective date: 20091014 |
|
REG | Reference to a national code |
Ref country code: FR Ref legal event code: PLFP Year of fee payment: 14 |
|
REG | Reference to a national code |
Ref country code: FR Ref legal event code: PLFP Year of fee payment: 15 |
|
PGFP | Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: FR Payment date: 20170419 Year of fee payment: 15 Ref country code: CH Payment date: 20170419 Year of fee payment: 15 Ref country code: DE Payment date: 20170419 Year of fee payment: 15 |
|
REG | Reference to a national code |
Ref country code: DE Ref legal event code: R119 Ref document number: 60329666 Country of ref document: DE |
|
REG | Reference to a national code |
Ref country code: CH Ref legal event code: PL |
|
PG25 | Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: DE Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES Effective date: 20181101 |
|
PG25 | Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: LI Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES Effective date: 20180430 Ref country code: CH Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES Effective date: 20180430 |
|
PG25 | Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] |
Ref country code: FR Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF NON-PAYMENT OF DUE FEES Effective date: 20180430 |